Items used in this Mario Gamer party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop:

MARIO GAMER PARTY DETAILS:

Jen said this about planning the party- “My son and his best friend, not only share the same name (JACOB), but the same birth month and also the same favorite hobby: playing video games! After talking to Jacob’s mom, who happens to also be one of my very best friends, we thought the most fitting theme to celebrate the fact that our sons were both moving ‘1-UP!’ a year in their ages would involve allowing them to do what they love most–play video games! We surprised them by planning a joint Mario-themed ‘GAMER’ party!
I was so privileged to work with the talented Lauren McKinsey who designed an entire Mario-themed printable package from scratch! She was so thorough! She even did her own research by playing the game with her children so she could get the feel of the invitations and designs precisely right! (I had told her I wanted the graphic designs to allude to Mario, without being overly character rich.) The results were even more amazing than I could have ever imagined!

Invitation: “Game On.”
The boys were so thrilled to mail their invitations which asked their guests the most important question of all, “Are you game?” What pre-teen boy wouldn’t jump at the chance to get his game on for a ‘super’ time? Lauren even designed matching address labels. Too cute.

Welcome Table: All Access Gamer Passes
Upon arriving, each boy was greeted at the welcome table & presented with a customized ‘All Access Gamer Pass’. Lauren did such a fun job designing these.

The welcome table was decorated to catch their attention and foreshadow the fun to come! Chocolate Mario mustache lollipops displayed on the welcome table excited many of the boys. They couldn’t wait for the opportunity to use those as photo props and ‘accidentally’ take a few nibbles.

Party Decor:
The moment the guests walked into the party, I wanted them to feel like they had stepped into the classic Super Mario Brothers video game at their favorite video arcade! I thought the decorations should reflect the scenery most common to the game. I kept the color palette simple with primary colors (red, blue, green, yellow). Both the welcome table and dessert table were decorated in Mario style. Caprisun boxes were spray-painted to look like bricks. PVC piping from the hardware store was cut, assembled and painted to look like the famous green tubesMario goes down. Red and white polka dotted pirahna plants were created from spray painted styrofoam balls & terra cotta pots. I asked Lauren to make me oversized versions of the mushrooms and star (big symbols from the game) that I could print and cut out. I also created an oversized cloud to hang from our blue sky backdrop (cloud/sky butcher paper purchased at Michaels). Smaller versions of these were strung around the dessert table as a garland.Dessert Table:
Putting the dessert table together was my favorite part of styling this party (isn’t it always?). I wanted this to be their ‘Engergy Boost’ station where they could refuel after their game playing.

Laurendesigned a fabulously colorful banner for me which I strung from our blue/sky cloud backdrop. Bricks were stacked and green tubes were added to give some character to our table.

I loved the idea of using some of the props to actually function as serving vessels (thank you for the inspiration GreyGrey Designs), so some of the green tubes housed our yummy & amazingly coordinating pretzels by Amanda at Pretzels Pleaze.

Aren’t those little sugar mushrooms adorable? (Her pretzels have been a highlight at 3 events I’ve styled so far! People can’t get enough!) The idea for the pirahna plant was found on Pinterest. Not only did they add some much needed height to our table, but the plants held Mario’s ‘fireballs’ (Atomic Fireball candy). The kids got a kick out of that! Of course, the dessert table was flanked on each side with colorful polka dot balloons from Shop Sweet Lulu. They have wonderful products for every kind of party!

The focal point of the dessert table was definitely the scrumptious cupcakes & unbelievably detailed cookies. I happily added 3 new and amazingly talented dessert artists to my arsenal of go-to businesses. Wanna Cupcake provided delicious cupcakes (Oreo, Peanut Butter Cup and Classic Chocolate) for the event. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to sampling a little of each flavor. Yum! I dolled up the cupcakes with green, red & white polka dotted liners & seriously jaw-dropping custom fondant work by Sugar Butter Baby.
I couldn’t believe how cool the fondant work was. All of the classic characters were present. The boys actually wanted to SAVE their toppers and take them home to show their parents. Yeah, they were that amazing!

Definitely a treat, Sweet Surrender Cookie Company sent a few dozen of their Mario-themed cookie favors. They were flawless and so delicious. I love having individually wrapped treats that can easily be handed out and either consumed on the spot or saved for later.

In addition, our dessert table included some candy. Custom candy bar wrappers were included in Lauren McKinsey’s designs and a candy bar was covered for each guest. I also had glass dishes filled with red, green & white’Yoshi Eggs’ (Cadbury mini eggs) and chocolate gold coins (just like the coins Mario earns in the game!). Glassine bags from Nashville Wraps were decorated with cute little party circles created by Lauren for filling with the candy. And finally, each boy needed his own chocolate Wii remote favor. What’s a gamer party without your own game controller?

Table Settings:
The party tables were so colorful, thanks to more fun striped and polka dotted products from both Shop Sweet Luluand Polka Dot Market. Each place setting included a fun red polka-dotted gable box (Shop Sweet Lulu), with a personalized name hang tag designed by Lauren. The boxes were decorated with a fun label: “Game over. Wii thank you for coming to our party.” These boxes were used to fill up with treats from the dessert table to take home as party favors. To quench our little gamer’s thirst, small bottled waters (Power Up Potion & Power Up Water) were included at each place, along with cute striped straws (Polka Dot Market). The cookies from Sweet Surrender Cookie Company added an amazing splash of color and fun resting next to each plate. Centerpieces were created from Tootsie Roll Banks, covered in coordinating paper and decorated with mushrooms peeking out on sucker sticks. These acted as perfect balloon weights for more polka dotted balloons.

Custom Shirts:
Our boys were so excited to sport custom Mario and Luigi appliqué shirts from Sew Lucky Embroidery. The iron-on appliqué was so easy to do and washes up great! Plus, how cool to represent the main characters from the Super Mario Bros. game!

Entertainment:
The best part about this party was the ease of the entertainment! We hired Game Truck Seattle. What exactly is a game truck? Think of it as a video arcade on wheels that has several big screen t.v.s and various gaming systems allowing our entire group of boys to play video games all at the same time! Their selection of games was amazing and included all of the new releases. Two hours in the game truck were enjoyed by all!”

Items used in this Mario Gamer party available in Kara’s Party Ideas Shop: